Magnum Opus Cor
by Spaz-kun
Summary: Alex Louis Armstrong became the fifth sacrifice to open the gate to Truth. The toll is costly for knowledge as pure as this.


:capitulus unum:

"Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

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><p>It was a force the likes of which he'd never experienced before. With an instantaneous burst of light, his mind was besieged by eons of stored information that surpassed the capabilities of human tongues. Language was not enough to contain the terrible sovereignty of Truth, the wrathful enthusiasm with which it invaded the man's being, stripped him bare of reason and substituted his limited world view with perspective as vast as the universe.<p>

And then the universe became an equation, a changing one with fluctuating values that solved itself continuously as one died and another was born into its calculations. The cycle of death, rebirth and its endless machinations happened _within him,_ all-encompassing, all-inclusive, cacophonous and resounding as a final breath and a newborn's cry.

He was wrenched from the light. A swarm of hands whispering unintelligible dialects of civilizations passed carried him through the Eye and into the deafened silence of the Gateway. Truth sat hunkered into itself and grinning savagely, its purity so stark, the white dimension dimmed in comparison. It delighted in beholding the trembling figure, once so very blind, and now enlightened beyond its own limited comprehension.

"I have made known unto you my most guarded secrets."

**I have made known unto you my most guarded secrets.**

_I have made known unto you my most guarded secrets._

Truth spoke in a dissonant trinity that reached the mind as well as the ears, leaning forward and craning its round head in order to catch a better glimpse of its newest disciple. The man was stout and well muscled with powerful shoulders rigid under their military vestments. His expression had frozen into a awe-struck gape, fists clenched in an attempt to contain their spasmodic jerking.

It was no small thing that he was able to stand.

"Do you understand now?"

**Do you see why I must punish those who dare seek out this Vastness?**

_Pay the toll. Let us obey the laws of Equivalent Exchange, the laws of Truth._

Armstrong lifted his gaze, weary and grief stricken. There was a deadened, pallid color to his skin that betrayed any sort of vitality he'd once boasted of. He might've been an empty vessel, whose fragile carapace could crack at any moment under the weight of understanding.

'_How costly the toll must be for knowledge as pure as this.'_

"Do what you will," he murmured, fumbling at the buckles of his gauntlets. His fingers shook and the task was difficult, but he managed to loosen them just enough to ease the cramping. Truth gazed on. Anticipation and acceptance met and churned angrily in the Alchemist's stomach, his movements abrupt and unsteady as he sunk to the floor with a heavy sigh.

A tremulous breath.

He was ready.

The hands that devoured sprung forth from the Gate, swarming him, invasive and starved for payment. Armstrong failed to contain a snarl of agony as the searching hands suddenly thrust into his chest, disappearing from view but constricting vice-like about his-

'_I'll die.'_

"**I **do not _kill,_" Truth replied flatly. "**You** will _live_ and _endure_ the _**punishment**_ I've _chosen_."

The hands receded the moment the Gate burst open once more, its gaping maw putrid smelling and panting. A soughing inhalation dragged the collapsed body into its darkness.

"Be gone. Make something of your enlightened existence. Discover the Truth within Me."

**Be gone. Make something of your enlightened existence. Discover the Truth within You.**

_Be gone. Make something of your enlightened existence. Discover the Truth within All._

The Gate closed with a resounding clap, a new disciple making its way to Earth, his heart and mind considerably transformed.

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><p><em>FMA belongs entirely to Arakawa Hiromu. Thank you for reading.<em>


End file.
